1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a foldable type portable information terminal, a condition notifying method used in the same and a program therefor. More particularly, the invention relates to a foldable type portable information terminal, in which an upper unit and a lower unit are coupled for opening and closing and for pivoting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, among portable information terminals, particularly cellular telephone units, foldable type terminals or units have been widely preferred for capability of storage in compact and for capability of prevention of erroneous key operation on operating portions in comparison with straight type terminals or units to gain increasing demand.
On the other hand, in case of the cellular telephone units, terminals provided not only normal calling function but also browser function for browsing internet web page or the like, function as transmitting and receiving terminal of electronic mail, function of schedule management and so on. For the functions set forth above, enlarging of display is progressed for facilitating display of large amount of character information, graphic image and so on.
However, in case of the foregoing foldable type cellular telephone unit, shortcoming is encountered in vexatious complication in opening and closing the upper and lower units, constraint for vertically elongated display (constraint in number of display characters in lateral one line or in displaying laterally elongated image), constraint in design and so forth.
In order to solve these problem, there has been proposed a foldable type cellular telephone unit, in which the upper unit and the lower unit are coupled for providing capability not only for opening and closing of the upper unit and the lower unit and for pivoting relative to each other for convenience. For example, the foldable type cellular telephone unit of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 11(1999)-30226, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Heisei 11(1999)-215218, and so forth.
However, in the foregoing foldable type portable information terminal, convenience is improved by providing capability not only for opening and closing of the upper unit and the lower unit and for pivoting relative to each other, the upper and lower units are placed in various attitude relative to each other. Therefore, when the upper and lower units are pivoted with each other, difficulty is encountered in instantly checking whether the attitude condition of the upper and lower units is adapted to an operation mode desired to use by a user.
For example, when the foldable type portable information terminal is used in a mode where the upper and lower units are pivoted to place the display portion in laterally elongated attitude for watching browser, reading electronic mail or playing game and so forth, even if the upper and lower units are pivoted to transit to calling mode, it is not possible to instantly check whether the current attitude of the upper and lower units is adapted to calling mode. In such case, the upper unit and the lower unit have to be pivoted up to the attitude adapted to the calling mode with checking at respective pivoting positions.